The real stories from inside the F1 paddock

The accident at Duxford

Maria de Villota drove a Renault Formula 1 car at Paul Ricard last year. She had no obvious qualifications to be a Formula 1 driver and no Superlicence, but private testing does not require the same rules and regulations as “official” activities. What she did have was some money and a dream and that made her presence in the Marussia team possible. It obviously helped that she was a woman because it is fairly unlikely that an F1 team would run an obscure Spanish man with the same kind of qualifications. We have not seen that since 41- year-old Israeli Channock Nissany drove for Minardi in 2005. One can accuse the Marussia team of tokenism if you wish, but money is money and Marussia Racing clearly needed it.

It is still a little early to say what happened at Duxford, but clearly the accident involved either a technical glitch or inexperience. One can, of course, ask whether it was wise to have a truck with the tail-lift down in proximity to an F1 car being tested.

Whatever the case there is no doubt that that this was a freak accident and F1 can count itself as fortunate that the ramifications were not more serious. People learn from mistakes and it remains to be seen whether the FIA will deem it necessary to get involved. It is, of course, important that the sport is as safe as possible – and seen to be safe – and these days any kind of accident reflects on the sport. Serious accidents in F1 are rare and as a result the reporting related to them tends to be rather hysterical, as was seen with Felipe Massa’s incident in Hungary a few years back.

For the time being F1 should not be making any snap decisions. The sport should take a look at what happened and then decide whether that warrants any action.

In F1 Anti-stall will kick in in any gear, but it does not do anything to the throttle, it merely engages the clutch then if the drive does nothing for 4 or 5 seconds (can’t remember exactly) then the engine will automatically stall. All F1 cars are the same in this regard due to the SECU.

I totally agree with your comment on tail lifts. These are lethal things and I have seen people get nasty cuts on their heads, walking into them when distracted looking at a mobile etc. They should only be left down when actually in use.

From the audio the dull muffled sound of the engine indicated the brakes were applied. With brakes applied understeer was probable. She was a passenger. The engine cut out before impact. So why was the throttle open? Anti-stall or other? Not a good place to park a truck though. A horrible accident.

Joe, a harsh assessment of Maria di Vilotta, but sadly true in that it was her gender and money that got her the drive, certainly not the pedigree of her CV. There are 50 or 60 drivers out there that I could name better qualified to do the test.

I remember so clearly in 1985 hearing on the news of the death of one of my favourite driver’s Elio de Angelis at Paul Ricard. Years later I read of the circumstances of no fire marshalls and the guys arriving to put out the fire in shorts etc. F1 learnt from that and testing became a lot more “professional.”

Last evening when details became a bit clearer what you point out about the truck was the first thing that came to my mind. I thought irrespective of where the testing takes place surely you set up a Pit area that would be no different to if you were at Snetterton etc. That is you set up defined zones. The only picture I have seen makes it look like Bernie’s favourite expression of the British GP a few years back, a village fete. It looked like they had just dumped everything and started the test. But I am sure the HSE will get to the bottom of all of that.

The biggest unknown of an accident is when (obviously) so if you do your risk assessment based on that then you can see that the test was a shambles. A truck with a loading gate set at the height that could decapitate within an area that if there was an error (driver or technical) could have horrific consequences, and the ultimate consequence we do not know yet.

I used Snetterton as an example as I recently took my 5 year year old there to see some testing and he was very upset he was not allowed on the pitlane only behind the garages. And while I was annoyed as he is so motor racing mad, I also see that they have a policy as they have assessed the risk.

Thats the difference between being professional or not when it comes to safety.

Indeed Joe. The particulars of the accident I will leave alone as I know nothing more than the few tweets on the subject.

What did occour to me though, that I feel I can raise, is the fact that it seems strange to me that normaly when F1 cars run there has to be all kinds of medical support, with people who know how to extricate drivers etc, and I doubt whether this is the case during straight-line testing.

If that is the case, then for no other reason, it is not necessarily fair to let local paramedic response have to deal with an issue like this that is far beyond their usual training.

I will be interested to see how F1/FIA deal with the fallout from this actually. Their planning is often impressive when it comes to safety.

This thought first popped into my head when I saw the news, but for a straight line test it seems like it must of been a pure accident. I mean shes raced ok in Superleague Formula (where the cars are about 13/14 seconds a lap slower round Monza than F1 cars – but they do have 750 BHp) and has already done a test in a F1 car as you said. As well as a one off in F3000 Euroseries.

With that in mind a straight line test shouldn’t of been beyond someone of her qualifications. I agree shes only there due to a lack of cash and her gender, F1 would love the boost from a female driver – but only a competitive one. (If its going to be done, its got to be done right)

While it’s great to have women in F1, I do feel that as you say, Maria did not have any qualifications to be there based on her prior driving success in more junior formulas. I guess this is a reminder that when drivers are recruited for their ability to pay or for their ability to attract media attention, something like this could always occur due to lack of experience.

This certainly seems the case if Racecar Engineering’s speculation is correct i.e. the car went into antistall and Maria wasn’t prepared for this, but as your article mentions, it is too early to say until more definite details emerge.

Although the publicity this unfortunate circumstance has generated on women in F1, I think it is more corrosive in the long run if women are being recruited on a basis other than their skill. This sport needs a Danica Patrick, but only if she is recruited on merit. That should be the way forward for women in F1.
Best wishes to Maria in her recovery.

On a related note, any info on how the Williams guy with the burns is? it’s perfectly understandable that the team and/or individual don’t wish their condition to be public property, but there’s a lot of us who wish him well.

While we’re flinging round accusations, how about sexism in this article. In this day and age I find it offensive that anyone can make such comments not to mention a professional writer, shame on you Joe.

And lets not even get started with the “Captain hindsight” comment about the trucks tail lift. Congratulations! you solved the problem after it happened… oh wait no you didn’t the truck probably would still have been in the same place even if the lift had been up.

Why is it so hard for people like you to understand that a good driver is a good driver whether they are a man or a woman. I would have said the same if it was a man. Shame on you for not being able to understand the difference between sexism and a fair assessment.

George, I don’t know how you put two and two together & got five. I couldn’t detect ANY hint of sexism in Joe’s article, apart from the allusion that it was to Marussia’s benefit to have a woman as a test driver (for promotional purposes), together with the fact that she also brought money herself.

Often times people will read something and have a different interpretation than most others due to their deep rooted and suppressed emotions. In this case… you are displaying your sexist nature. Whether or not YOU recognize it in yourself is another story… but I have read the article like many others here and detected no sexism.

Hasn’t Ferrari got a programm, F1 Clienti, where the buyers of older F1 cars can race them on certain days, on a race track? Surely this is much more dangerous than having any racing driver driving such a car, even if some settings of the cars are changed according to the experience of the owner-drivers.

Well put Joe, I am sick of reading about this happened because she was a woman, what was she doing in an F1 car with her credentials and so on and so forth, People forget that Maria drove a renault without issue but now that something bad has happened she suddenly should not of been there.

Remember your argument that a country that does not allow journalists to go to a Grand Prix should not be allowed to be part of the World Championship”?
Well, after three changes of plane ticket, hotel bookings etc, we have today cancelled our trip to Silverstone. There is still no answer from the British Embassy. They do not speak to us – we just put a number on a internet site just to check the status of the passports, which have been blocked for three weeks. Day after day it is the same. We have run out of time to film the pre-race show and lost a lot of money because of all the changes of plan, but we are now staying at home. I will commententate the race from Moscow. Nice, isn’t it?
Can you imaginewhat would happen if this happened to the BBC and Sky crews at the 2014 Russian Grand Prix? It would be an unbelievable global scandal. But here we are, with the British GP without Russian TV. Who cares? It is very sad. I will miss seeing Silverstone. I will miss seeing you, David and Kate too, and some of the other media and team people. And some nice people at the circuit and the hotel, but the rest of it? I don’t know.
See you at Hockenheim!

Alex, I am sad to hear that and I think you are absolutely right. The British Consulate in Moscow obviously needs to figure out what is best for the image of the UK around the world. As we know only too well when it comes to bureaucrats issuing visas to foreign media it is not always easy. I think that an official complaint to the FIA would not do any harm.

An astute analysis. No fault to be allocated here. Sadly, the human response is to attribute blame even if not applicable. This article above proves the authors high level of integrity by not placing blame. The de Villota family know the risks associated in auto racing better than most. The pursuit of our dreams can be fraught with obstacles (no pun intended). My prayers are with her wishing her a speedy recovery and a quick return to her life quest.
As for the lorry? My quess is that it has always been stationed in that area without incident. We are all guilty at some time of failing to recognize the worst case scenario. I would however bet it all that “the lorry shall be parked behind the pitstall” henceforth.
Best Wishes Maria and thanks J.Saward for your talent and willingness to share with us all.

I would hate to see her blamed for something that isn’t her fault. If it is her fault, then so be it. But, let’s not jump to conclusions. Accidents happen. They’re called accidents for a reason.

There’s also the broader ramifications for women drivers in F1. Some will use this as justification to say, told you so. Personally, as long as the individual is capable, I have no problem with a woman driving in F1. I wouldn’t like to see this accident used as an example to keep women out of a seat.

I wish her a speedy recovery and am sad for her. It is a terrible thing to achieve a dream and then have it taken away in this manner.

I totally agree with you. Inexperience might have been a factor but we still have to know if there was any technical problem. Anyway it seems really stupid having that lift around there and seems lucky that Maria still has her head over her shoulders… Testing needs more strict safety rules…

Sorry Joe, I am a avid reader of your blog but I can’t help but feel that the first paragraph is in poor taste. As I’m sure you are aware, Maria de Villota has been in a critical condition and has now lost an eye as a result of her accident. The reasons as to why she was driving for Marussia is not news. There’s a human story going on here.

tad harsh on the girl in that first paragraph i thought. She had a test in a renault last year… so surely 2 drives couldn’t be a fluke… coupled with some half decent results in other junior formula. She wasn’t going to be a champion… but to say ot was all money and that she’s a woman seems a tad harsh in what was a closed private test… not a mass media event. There have been far worse thrust into F1 cars. What were Sakon Yamamoto and Yuji Ide’s criteria if not money over actual results. Kim Raikkonen only had a temporary super licence when he first started in F1… and what a disaster his career was!

Desperately sad though, just heard she’s lost her right eye. To have the truck anywhere near the car seems very lax somewhere… but this is the risk of using unhomologated facilities for tests. There are plenty of purpose built circuits in the UK… some even with runway type sections. the FIA should definitely look to clamp down on the suitability of some of these private tests.

Most of the media coverage is also pretty rubbish… all focused very strongly on the fact she’s a female driver – almost to the point of insinuating that a man wouldn’t have had such an incident.

Like you, Joe, I was at the Duxford Team Lotus straight line test where the Caterham purchase was announced. It struck me then how informal the garaging area was – I rather liked it, as it felt like a throw-back to a simpler age that I never got the chance to see. But, yes, it’s not difficult to see how that might have to change.

It also wouldn’t do any harm if this led to a re-assessment of what sort of drivers do these tests – at the moment they’re cherries on the cake for young kids, like the Malaysian Caterham ran not so long ago (name escapes me, sorry), or drivers like de Villota and Ricardo Teixeira with a budget, and maybe connections who, let’s face it, aren’t often going to be allowed to do anything more taxing in F1 machinery than going in a straight line…

Loosing the sight in her right eye (so I hear?) seems serious enough but I get your point; she could easily have paid the ultimate price in testing an F1 car, just as Elio De Angelis and Patrick Depailler did.

It’s obvious that Maria was not the best driver on the grid, but I can’t understand why you compare it with some “obscure spanish man” or Channoch. She had a proper racing career, not a promising one, but do you think that she had less experience than Alguersuari or Vergne? Accidents happen, everywhere, everytime. Even Lewis ate kimi at the pit lane.

Obviously not, but I feel that you are being totally unfair with the first paragraph of your post. Maria was in F1 because her pure will and determination, money is a must for all the F1 drivers career. She battled her ass over all kind of cars, and I don’t think that you are being fair with her career.

This is not the time to be discussing this, but I think that my assessment was very fair. Perhaps I did not coat it enough with candy. There are literally hundreds of drivers out there with better qualifications than she had. Be realistic. Look at the results and see what I mean before attacking what I am saying. In any case, I am not going to to get into this fight at this time. We should think a little about her. It was a nasty accident, no matter how it happened and as human beings we should feel for her.

Sorry if You feel attacked, It’s obvious that there were much better drivers that didn’t have the chance/resources/will to get there. I think that there is no better way of supporting her than honouring her career, She is not only a woman with “some money and a dream”.

Reading the comments we do feel for her, and going on the Twitter response too and the Marussia team being overwhelmed with good will messages, the community has pulled together with best wishes for her recovery.

Your assessment was callous at best – We know she isn’t a future world champion, just like at least half the current F1 grid aren’t. There are far worse people, with far worse records and international racing expirience who have driven an F1 car in tests, and even Grands Prix in the last 10-15 years!

Almost every driver now brings money to the team they are in – our current championship leader brought along Santander to pay his retainer! Your assessment has managed to suggest that it was her fault for having the drive and being inexperienced, and being female was pretty much the only reason for her being in the car. As I said – this was not some mass promoted publicity stunt… so what would Marussia have gained from putting a woman in the car in a private test, The aim was to test the new updates package for Silverstone, and they clearly believed she could do the job… end of story.

This was no more than a freak accident, and as you said in your very sober and sensible post yesterday “for the moment we know very little about the circumstances of the accident and the extent of the injuries involved. On such circumstances there is always a fair amount of sensationalism, and it is best not to get sucked into that.” For me, and many other fans around the world hoping Maria recovers, this is still the case.

I think callous is a very strong and emotive word. I have simply been realistic and I have very carefully avoided any kind of attempt at blame. We don’t know what happened and until we do, it is utterly pointless to say anything. You have reached conclusions that are simply wrong. This is no real surprise as your assessment of the current and past Grand Prix drivers is a clear signal that you are not well-armed in any argument in this matter. However I am not going to get into any argument at this point because there is a time to do this sort of thing – and now is not it.

Sorry, I agree with Joe on this one. She hasn’t even managed to get a superlicense so wasn’t able to stand in for Timo when he fell sick at the last race – what would have been her home GP. She was chosen by the team for a reason, and that reason wasn’t her ability to drive a car.

All that said, I’m sure she is actually a pretty good driver in the overall scheme of racing drivers, just not F1 standard. If her coming in as a test driver had opened other opportunities for women to enter F1 then it would have been no bad thing. It is just unfortunate that this accident happened to her – it is unfortunate it happened at all come to that but in many ways she is a special case as Marussia chose her to promote the chances of women at the top of the sport.

I’ve never driven one so I don’t know for sure but I suspect F1 cars aren’t all that tricky to actually operate as a driver. The skill is knowing how to push the limits. We can all make mistakes in an unfamiliar car – I remember the first car my parents bought, we drove about 20 miles in it thinking the illuminated ‘P’ meant we needed petrol before realising the hand brake had been on all the time. The real question here is if it even was a mistake or a malfunction and more importantly why there were things that could be hit in the path which the cars would be taking.

As an aside, and I know this seems heartless in some ways, but will this affect Marussia’s ability to take part in the British GP this weekend? Was the car being used a test car or one of the race cars? Presumably the HSE will have impounded the car for tests so it may not be available for the weekend.

Other than acceleration and adhesion to the track the thing most F1 drivers emphasize in describing a modern era F1 car is the incredible stopping power/deceleration under braking.

There is a mention of a 30mph impact, I guess she must have been really close to the support vehicle with extremely limited time to react otherwise you would expect the F1 brakes would have stopped her.

On a side note I was really surprised to see Tom Cruise had been given permission to take out a Redbull F1 car, pretty ironic – he gets to play and she gets seriously injured, i am sure there will be some rethinking going on in regards to promos.

I think the teams will take much more care with the settings on the car and the area used for the test when film stars, journalists and members of the public drive than when it is a professional at the wheel.
As Joe said, we don’t know the circumstances of the accident, it could have been a technical failure. For all we know the crash could have happened with Alonso at the wheel.

In regards to Tom – Let’s see, how about the question of qualified personnel piloting these machines or do you believe because he played Maverick in Top Gun he is equipped? Its important to use sound judgement to predict dangers not overuse the term “accident” after the fact. The degree of safety built into these Cars seems to have created some complacency, It seems F1 just got a wake up call.

Its not a question of blame but a reminder to be vigilant, in the past F1 was more dangerous there was perhaps more respect of inherent dangers leading to extremely serious consequences. What if Tom had rolled that Red Bull when he went off track and broke his neck, would that be considered an accident or would there be some serious questions about what the hell a film actor was doing at high speed in an F1 car, wakey wakey

So what if Tom rolled it and broke his neck? Do you think he is unaware of the dangers of what he was doing? He was 4MPH off pace of Coulthard on the track. He was pushing hard, by choice. We all are free to do what we want. I am sure he was aware. If Red Bull are willing to allow it… and he is willing to drive it… and the correct legal documents are signed… then let it be.

Again… what does Tom Cruise (and ANYONE else who have had the chance to drive an F1 car) have to do with a F1 Test Drivers accident?

In short… the answer to your ridiculous question of “what the hell was he doing in an F1 car”? WHAT HE WANTED TO DO!

Tom can do what he wants, you can do what you want, but it would be the Sport of F1 that would look foolish and amateurish if something unfortunate happens, these folks provide the governance required to keep people safer.

These cars are not toys, they are more like land based missiles that have highly complex systems requiring driver input so no free test drives for you anytime soon, unfortunately. Although I’m sure you could ‘wing it’ with no risk to yourself or the support team that staffs the car enthusiasm is not much help upon impact.

As ever Joe, your comments are balanced and considered, and now is not the time to rush for judgement or seek quick answers to the cause of what is clearly the result of unforseen events. While obviously the most important consideration is the condition of Maria I feel that most people have failed to acknowledge that we should also all take the time to spare a thought for the members of the Marussia team who undoubtedly are wondering if anything they could have done could have prevented this. Sadly the sport we all love is a dangerous one and even some of the smartest minds cannot forsee all eventualities, we can only hope we learn from this, and if any higher power exists that it smiles on Maria

Agree wholeheartedly with all this and with all Joe’s comments thus far. The only thing that matters now is that she recovers well and, even with the serious eye injury, perhaps is able to enjoy the sport she loves at another competitive level at some point in the future, albeit one outside of F1. In the meantime, best wishes and thoughts to her, her family and those at Marrusia.